Reinforced scoreline shipping container

ABSTRACT

A reinforced paperboard shipping container or baler for enclosing a plurality of articles such as cans is formed from a prescored paperboard blank including four parallel score lines, each reinforced with a narrow strip of a tough sheet material such as a 1-inch wide strip of paper or plastic. A pair of flap scorelines positioned at right angles to the four reinforced scorelines define a plurality of end flaps which when folded over one another form the ends of the container. The end flaps are separated from each other by parallel cuts which are located out of alignment, i.e., laterally of the scorelines that are covered by the reinforcing strips. This produces a plurality of subsidiary flaps integral with the end flaps. The fold line between each of the end flaps and its subsidiary flap is covered by the end portion of one of the reinforcing strips.

United States Patent {72] Inventor Charles Henry Turpin Louisville, Ky.[2i] Appl. No 834,260 l22| Filed June I8, I969 l45| Patented June I,197] [73] Assignee The Pillsbury Company Minneapolis, Minn.

[54] REINFORCED SCORELINE SHIPPING CONTAINER 12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] [1.8. CI 229/37, 217/69, 229/49 [Sll Int. Cl 865d 5/02, 865d 5/42[50] Field of Search 217/69; 220/73; 229/3737 R, 49, 6

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Rei6,936 4/1928 Shafer t.229/49 2,201,462 5/l940 Wells et al. 229/49X 2.652970 9/1953 George229/37 Attorneys-Ronald E. Lund, James V. Harmon and M. Paul HendricksonABSTRACT: A reinforced paperboard shipping container or baler forenclosing a plurality of articles such as cans is formed from aprescored paperboard blank including four parallel score lines, eachreinforced with a narrow strip of a tough sheet material such as a1-inch wide strip of paper or plastic. A pair of flap scorelinespositioned at right angles to the four reinforced scorelines define aplurality of end flaps which when folded over one another form the endsof the container. The end flaps are separated from each other byparallel cuts which are located out of alignment, i.e., laterally of thescorelines that are covered by the reinforcing strips. This produces aplurality of subsidiary flaps integral with the end flaps. The fold linebetween each of the end flaps and its subsidiary flap is covered by theend portion of one of the reinforcing strips.

PATENTEDJUN nan 3,581,973

sun-:1 2 UF 2 INVENTUR 61/0245: 1,. rwww/ Arroeazv REINFORCED SCORELINESHIPPING CONTAINER The present invention relates to the packaging artand more particularly to an improved reinforced container composedtypically of paperboard and sometimes referred to as a baler. Theinvention is particularly useful for packaging a plurality of articlessuch as cans.

An important deficiency of prior paperboard shipping containers andbalers is the lack of an effective reinforcement for the scorelines.This is especially a problem in the packaging of cans because the canchimes, where they contact the scorelines, of the can frequently producea hole in the container or cause the carton to tear. it has beenpreviously proposed to reinforce containers of this kind with a strip ofsheet material bonded to the carton in overlapping relationship with oneor more of the fold lines. This is an improvement but there isfrequently no reinforcement over the fold lines located at the ends ofthe carton where the material is subjected to the most damage. At best,only two layers of material are provided along fold lines.

In view of these deficiencies of the prior art, it is one object of thepresent invention to provide an improved carton of the type describedhaving the following characteristics and advantages, (a) manufacture andassembly can be accomplished with existing equipment, (b) the blankdesign allows the cutter used for severing the blank to sever thereinforcing material simultaneously, a provision for distributingreinforcement over the fold line in such a manner as to provide at leasttwo thicknesses of material where the chimes of cans packed in such acontainer contact the sidewalls of the container and three thicknessesof material at the point where the can chimes contact theend walls ofthe container, (d) the utilization of reinforcing materials that arenormally discarded, and (e) a degree of strength which is greater thancontainers not utilizing the invention through more efficient use ofmaterials.

These and other more detailed and specific objects will be apparent inview of the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a container blank embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a container embodying the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the end of the container of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partial transverse sectional view of the container taken online 4-4 of FIG. 2 but on a somewhat larger scale.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the invention and FIG. 6 is an enlargedpartial vertical section view taken on line 6-6 ofFIG. 2.

Briefly, the invention provides a shipping container formed fromflexible sheet material including four sidewalls and two end walls, thelatter being composed of flaps that are folded over one another.Subsidiary flaps project laterally from at least some of the end flapsand a plurality of reinforcing strips formed from flexible sheetmaterial are bonded to the sheet material of the container in parallelrelationship with each being positioned appropriately to extend from oneend of the container to the other in overlapping relationship with theintersection between the four sidewalls and between the intersectionbetween each of the end flaps and its adjacent integral subsidiary flap.In this way, two thicknesses of material are provided at each of theintersections between the sidewalls of the container and threethicknesses of material are provided at the ends of the container wherethe reinforced intersection between the subsidiary flaps and itsadjacent flap lies in lapped relationship with another layer of thesheet material from which the container is formed.

A preferred form of the invention is formed from a prescored cutpaperboard blank including four parallel scorelines, each reinforcedwith a narrow strip of a tough sheet material such as a I-inch widestrip of paper or plastic. A pair of flap scorelines are positioned atright angles to the four reinforced scorelines. When the flaps arefolded over one another, they form the ends of the carton. The flaps areseparated from each other by parallel cuts which are located out ofalignment with the scorelines covered by the reinforcing strips suchthat a plurality of subsidiary flaps are formed with the fold linebetween each flap and its subsidiary flap being covered by the endportion of one of the reinforcing strips.

Reference will now be made to the FIGS. in detail. In FIG. I is shown acontainer blank I0 composed of a suitable flexible packaging sheetmaterial such as Kraft paper of 130 pounds per ream (3,000 square feet)including five body panels l2, l4, l6, l8 and 20 which are separated byparallel scorelines 22, 24, 26 and 28. Over each of the fold lines 22-28is bonded by means of a suitable adhesive one of the reinforcing strips30, 32, 34 and 36. The reinforcing strips can be formed from l-inch widestrips of Kraft paper of the same weight as the container body stock.

The flap fold lines designated 40 and 42 are positioned at right anglesto those mentioned above to define end flaps 44, 46, 48, 50 and 52 atone end of the carton and end flaps 54, 56, 58, 60 and 62 at theopposite end. These end flaps are separated from one another bylongitudinally extending cuts 0 which extend from the side edges of theblank longitudinally to the nearest flap fold line 40 or 42 as the casemay be. It should be noted that the cuts care positioned out ofalignment with the fold lines 22, 24, 26 and 28 so as to definesubsidiary flaps 46a and 46b, 50a and 50b at one end of the container.At

..the other end, the cuts c define subsidiary flaps 56a and 56b and 60aand 60b. The cuts c at their inward ends include laterally extendingsections which in this case consist of obliquely oriented straightlines. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that theoblique sections can instead be curved or, if desired, cut c can extendall the way to the fold line 40 or 42 as the case may be thencelaterally to the nearest fold line of 22-28. The precise shape of thecentral end of the cut 0 is not critical.

The preferred mode of attaching the reinforcing strips will now bedescribed. By reference to FIG. 6 it will be seen that reinforcing strip36, which is typical of those used, is bonded to the overlying sheetmaterial with two parallel spaced apart longitudinally disposed gluelines 70 and 72 leaving a free unglued portion 74 between them. Theunglued portion extending the entire length of each of the reinforcingstrips 30, 32, 34 and 36 gives the package added strength.

To facilitate opening the container 10, I provide (FIG. 1) a curved cut86 in the panel 16 to serve as a tab 88 which when pulled longitudinallywill sever the panel 16 thereby enabling the carton to be readilyopened.

There are two possible methods of assembling the carton 10. In one, aline of adhesive (FIG. 5) bonds the flaps 20 and 12 together at theirpoint of overlap. In this way, the container is made into an open-endedtube or sleeve which is folded flat for shipment before being filled.When the contents are to be inserted, the flattened tube is folded open,the contents, such as cans 82, FIGS. 2 and 6, are inserted from one endof the tube with the chimes 84 of the outer two rows of cans in contactwith reinforcing strips 3036. The end flaps and subsidiary flaps arethen folded into place with the subsidiary flaps either overlapping orunderlying adjacent flaps. It is ordinarily less difficult to bond thesubsidiary flaps beneath the adjacent contacting flaps.

In the alternative, the carton can be set up as a tray by gluing flaps48 to 50 and 46 and flap 58 to flaps 56 and 60, as shown in FIG. 5. Inthis case, the cans 82 are inserted from the top rather than from theend. The subsidiary flaps 46a, 50b, 56a and 60b are then foldeddownwardly over the tops of the cans 82. Next, flaps I2 and 20 arefolded downwardly with the flap 20 above flap 12 as seen in FIGS. 2 and4. Finally, the flaps 52, 62, 44 and 54 are bonded to the underlyingmaterial as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The reinforcing strips are preferably formed from an energy absorbingpaper or polymeric resinous sheet material commonlyreferred to asplastic sheeting. One preferred energy absorbing material is acommercially available extensible Kraft paper. When plastic sheet isused for the reinforcing material, a mil polypropylene sheet oriented ina direction transverse to the long axis of the strip itself is suitable.Other materials will be apparent to packaging specialists.

The invention has a number of advantages the primary ones being thehighly efficient use of materials and the provision of two thicknessesof material at the point where each of the can chimes along the side ofthe carton is in contact with the fold line. At the point where thegreatest stress occurs (the ends of the carton) the chimes 84 areoverwrapped by three thicknesses of material. Thus, as seen in FIG. 4,the chimes 84 are overwrapped first by the reinforcing strip 36, next bythe flap 50b and finally by the flap 20. In addition to these ad-'vantages it will be noted that none of the material from the blank hasto be thrown away.

It is apparent that many modifications and variations of this inventionas hereinbefore set forth may be made without departing from the spiritand scope thereof. The specific embodiments described are given by wayof example only and the invention is limited only by the terms of theappended claims.

lclaim:

l. A shipping container formed from flexible sheet material includingfour sidewalls and two end walls composed of flaps folded over oneanother, subsidiary flaps projecting laterally from the sides of atleast some of the end flaps and a plurality of reinforcing strips formedfrom flexible sheet material, each of the reinforcing strips beingparallel to each other and being positioned to extend from one end ofthe container to the other in overlapping relationship with theintersection between the four sidewalls of the container and the ends ofeach of the strips overlapping the intersection between each of the endflaps and its adjacent integral subsidiary flaps whereby two thicknessesof material are provided at each of the intersections between sidewallsof the container and three thicknesses are provided on the ends of thecontainer where the reinforced intersections between the subsidiaryflaps and the adjacent flaps lie in lapped relationship with a portionof the sheet material from which the container is formed.

2. The container according to claim 1 wherein the sheet material isrectangular and includes four parallel longitudinally extending foldlines defining the sidewalls and two transversely extending generallyparallel flap folds and define the flaps of the carton, each of thereinforcing strips is bonded in overlapping relationship with each ofthe four parallel fold line to separate the container flaps from oneanother and cuts are positioned laterally of each of the four parallelfold lines thereby forming the subsidiary flaps.

3. The container according to claim 1 wherein each of the reinforcingstrips is bonded to the underlying sheet material by two rows of spadedapart longitudinally extending strips of adhesive separated by anunbonded section.

4. The container according to claim 1 wherein the sheet material fromwhich the container is formed comprises paper.

5. The container according to claim 1 wherein the reinforcing materialcomprises paper.

6. The container according to claim 1 wherein the reinforcing stripscomprise flexible sheet material formed from a polymeric resinousmaterial.

7. The container according to claim 6 wherein the reinforcing strip iscomposed of a polyethylene material, the direction of orientation ofsaid polyethylene material being positioned at right angles to thelongitudinal axis of the strip.

8. A reinforced paperboard shipping container or baler for enclosing aplurality of articles such as cans, formed from a prescored cutpaperboard blank including four parallel scorelines, each reinforcedwith a narrow strip of sheet material, a pair of flap scorelinespositioned at right angles to the four reinforced scorelines divide theblank into a plurality of marginally disposed flaps which are adapted tobe folded over one another at the ends of the container, said flapsbeing separated from each other by parallel cuts which are located outof alignment with the scorelines covered by the reinforcing strips suchthat a plurality of subsidiary flaps are formed with the fold linebetween each of the flaps and its subsidiary flap covered by the endportion of one of the reinforcing strips.

9. The container according to claim 8 wherein each of the reinforcingstrips is bonded to the underlying paperboard blank by two rows ofspaced apart longitudinally extending strips of adhesive separated by anunbonded section.

10. The container according to claim 8 wherein the paperboard blankcomprises paper.

ll. The container according to claim 8 wherein the reinforcing materialcomprises paper.

12. The container according to claim 8 wherein the reinforcing stripscomprise flexible sheet material formed from a polymeric resinousmaterial.

1. A shipping container formed from flexible sheet material including four sidewalls and two end walls composed of flaps folded over one another, subsidiary flaps projecting laterally from the sides of at least some of the end flaps and a plurality of reinforcing strips formed from flexible sheet material, each of the reinforcing strips being parallel to each other and being positioned to extend from one end of the container to the other in overlapping relationship with the intersection between the four sidewalls of the container and the ends of each of the strips overlapping the intersection between each of the end flaps and its adjacent integral subsidiary flaps whereby two thicknesses of material are provided at each of the intersections between sidewalls of the container and three tHicknesses are provided on the ends of the container where the reinforced intersections between the subsidiary flaps and the adjacent flaps lie in lapped relationship with a portion of the sheet material from which the container is formed.
 2. The container according to claim 1 wherein the sheet material is rectangular and includes four parallel longitudinally extending fold lines defining the sidewalls and two transversely extending generally parallel flap folds and define the flaps of the carton, each of the reinforcing strips is bonded in overlapping relationship with each of the four parallel fold line to separate the container flaps from one another and cuts are positioned laterally of each of the four parallel fold lines thereby forming the subsidiary flaps.
 3. The container according to claim 1 wherein each of the reinforcing strips is bonded to the underlying sheet material by two rows of spaded apart longitudinally extending strips of adhesive separated by an unbonded section.
 4. The container according to claim 1 wherein the sheet material from which the container is formed comprises paper.
 5. The container according to claim 1 wherein the reinforcing material comprises paper.
 6. The container according to claim 1 wherein the reinforcing strips comprise flexible sheet material formed from a polymeric resinous material.
 7. The container according to claim 6 wherein the reinforcing strip is composed of a polyethylene material, the direction of orientation of said polyethylene material being positioned at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the strip.
 8. A reinforced paperboard shipping container or baler for enclosing a plurality of articles such as cans, formed from a prescored cut paperboard blank including four parallel scorelines, each reinforced with a narrow strip of sheet material, a pair of flap scorelines positioned at right angles to the four reinforced scorelines divide the blank into a plurality of marginally disposed flaps which are adapted to be folded over one another at the ends of the container, said flaps being separated from each other by parallel cuts which are located out of alignment with the scorelines covered by the reinforcing strips such that a plurality of subsidiary flaps are formed with the fold line between each of the flaps and its subsidiary flap covered by the end portion of one of the reinforcing strips.
 9. The container according to claim 8 wherein each of the reinforcing strips is bonded to the underlying paperboard blank by two rows of spaced apart longitudinally extending strips of adhesive separated by an unbonded section.
 10. The container according to claim 8 wherein the paperboard blank comprises paper.
 11. The container according to claim 8 wherein the reinforcing material comprises paper.
 12. The container according to claim 8 wherein the reinforcing strips comprise flexible sheet material formed from a polymeric resinous material. 